Hanukkah's festival of lights took on additional richness this year at Congregation Beth Hillel Bnai Emunah in Wilmette.

The Conservative congregation is preparing to celebrate its 60th year of official existence, and on Saturday, members and clergy gathered to light more than 60 menorahs to begin the observation of that anniversary.

Aaron Frankel, director of education and family involvement at the synagogue at 3220 Big Tree Lane, said the event drew 110 to 120 members.

"We had a number of menorahs already set up, and left spaces for people to bring their own, so that we could reach 60 menorahs," Frankel said. "More people than we expected brought menorahs, and in the end there were close to 70 of them.

"And since it was the fifth night of Hanukkah, there were plenty of candles lit. It was a really nice evening, and a really broad range of ages there, reflecting the generational diversity we have," he said.

Beth Hillel Bnai Emunah's story began in February of 1958, according to the congregation's website. That's when a group of 25 young Jewish families who had moved to west Wilmette in the mid 1950s formed the congregation. What was then Congregation Beth Hillel was formally established on April 16, 1958, under the leadership of Rabbi Louis H. Lieberworth, according to its history.

In 1961, the congregation broke ground on Big Tree Lane and construction of the congregation's religious school was completed in 1963. Eight years later, the congregation's sanctuary building was completed, it said.

In 2004, Congregation Beth Hillel welcomed a merger with the members of Congregation Bnai Emunah, originally centered in Skokie, synagogue president Marsha Lyons said.

Today the congregation has just under 500 families, she said, drawing from Wilmette and Winnetka, Chicago, Skokie, Glenview, Glencoe, and other communities along the North Shore.

Lyons, of Glenview, said the menorah-lighting ceremony was the beginning of a series of anniversary-related events that will culminate with a celebratory dinner dance in June. Among the special events will be services during which the congregation will honor members who joined in each decade of its existence, Lyons said.

She said the congregation's strength lies in large part in its inclusiveness; the congregation is LGBT-welcoming, she said, and offers inclusion Shabbat services for congregants with special needs.

Rabbi Annie Tucker called the 60th anniversary an exciting time for synagogue members.

"In Jewish tradition, 120 is considered the ideal life span for humans, since that was Moses' lifespan. That means 60 is the half-way point," Tucker said. "So we look at it as a time to continue building on the first 60 years, for the next 60 years."

Rabbi Allan Kensky was Congregation Beth Hillel's rabbi between 2002 and 2013, and said Beth Hillel Bnai Emunah's founding members were visionaries.

"They had this vision of the possibilities, of the location, of their Jewish community, and they had the faith that if they would build, people would come," he said.

Beverly Rosen of Glencoe has been a Beth Hillel Bnai Emunah member for 56 years, and is helping to organize pictures and articles from its archives to create a decade-by-decade historical record that will be part of the anniversary celebration. She said that she has long friendships that have their roots in the congregation.

Her three children had their bar and bat mitzvahs and weddings there, she said, adding, "A congregation is not only a place of worship, it's a place for social gatherings, a place where life cycle events take place."

Saturday's celebration did not end with the menorah lighting, Frankel said. Cantor Roytman led attendees in Hanukkah songs before a communal meal, Frankel said. The Wilmetsky Orchestra, a group of musicians that includes congregation members, played klezmer music afterward, he said, and the evening ended with a Hanukkah-themed game.

Gail Schneiderman of Wilmette, a 40-year member of the synagogue, said, "I think the nicest thing about the congregation, for me, is that family feeling. Our kids went through Hebrew school year, had their bar and bat mitzvahs here, and now my granddaughter is here. There is a sense of history and community that's pretty wonderful."